AALDEF and Civil Rights Groups Present "Unity Map" for Redistricting New York City

Thursday, Oct 6, 2011

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education
Fund (AALDEF), LatinoJustice PRLDEF, National Institute for Latino
Policy (NILP), and the Center for Law and Social Justice (CLSJ) of
Medgar Evers College have released the Unity Map, a
joint proposal for new State Assembly and State Senate districts in New
York City that reflects its changing demographics and protects the
voting rights of Blacks, Latinos, and Asian Americans.

"Each of these groups -- Asian Americans, Latinos, and Blacks -- has a
history of being underrepresented and has endured a long string of
voting rights violations," said Esmeralda Simmons, Executive Director of
CLSJ. "Out of common respect, we have joined together and have created
maps for the common good."

How the New Districts Were Proposed

All four organizations agreed on an overarching set of criteria in drafting the Unity Map.

Adhering to the "One Person-One Vote" requirement of the U. S.
Constitution by maintaining a nearly uniform legal level of deviation
for all the districts.

Following the Voting Rights Act to ensure that New York City's
"racial minority" populations have an equal opportunity to participate
in the political process.

Protecting "communities of interest," or groups of people that
share common socioeconomic characteristics, languages, and cultures.

Preserving both traditional and emerging neighborhoods.

What the Unity Map Accomplishes

In the past decade, Asian Americans were among the fastest growing
racial minority groups in New York City. Nonetheless, they remain one of
the most underrepresented politically. There are no Asian American
representatives in the State Senate and only one in the State Assembly.
This incongruity results from the fact that large Asian American
communities are severely split among different districts. For example,
the Richmond Hill/South Ozone Park community is divided among six
assembly districts.

"Given the rapid Asian American population growth over the last
decade, new legislative districts must be drawn to enable our community
to participate effectively in the political process," said AALDEF
Executive Director Margaret Fung. "Our goal of keeping 'communities of
interest' together is of particular importance to Asian Americans. We
want to ensure that Asian Americans in New York City will not lose their
political voice because they are kept apart by district lines."

By keeping such communities of interest together, the Unity Map
achieves four Asian American majority State Assembly districts, and one
majority Asian American State Senate district in the neighborhood of
Flushing/Bayside.

United Map_NY Senate (11x17).pdf">Latinos constituted 27.5% of the total population in New York City,
according to the 2010 Census. "New York City is home to an incredible
diversity of Latino elected officials of Puerto Rican, Dominican, and
Ecuadoran lineage," said Juan Cartagena, President and General Counsel
of LatinoJustice PRLDEF. "But at the same time its Latino communities
are embedded within contorted district lines that were fashioned long
ago to protect non-Latino incumbents - some of whom have not been
consistently responsive to the community's needs."

Under the Unity Map, there will be sixteen Latino majority State
Assembly districts rather than the current thirteen, and seven majority
State Senate districts rather than the current five. "Latinos can gain
additional opportunities to elect candidates of their choice without
unnecessarily infringing upon the rights of other protected groups,"
said Cartagena. "This plan for NY State Senate and Assembly strives to
do just that - and for the betterment of all New Yorkers."

The Unity Map also preserves the number of Black districts in the
State Assembly and State Senate while simultaneously expanding the
number of districts in Asian American and Latino American communities,
in accordance with their population growth.

"The districts that we have drawn are meaningful for Black
communities - they give Black communities the ability to elect the
candidates of their choice," said Simmons. "In addition, we have not
split communities when the population size of a community is too small
to justify a separate district. Thus, we have protected vulnerable
'communities of interest.'"

The Upcoming Vote

Our groups are taking action by using this once-in-a-decade
opportunity to redraw district lines. To that end, AALDEF, LatinoJustice
PRLDEF, NILP, and CLSJ have submitted the Unity Map to the New York
State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment
(LATFOR), which is conducting public hearings before presenting its
proposed maps to the New York State Legislature and the Governor.

"These lines show the New York State Legislature and the governor
what is possible to create during 2011 redistricting if they strive to
protect the voting rights of Blacks, Latinos, and Asians Americans,"
said Simmons.